Reflections on Victoria’s Housing Statement two years on

Opportunities to build on the Victorian Government’s housing agenda

Having a home is the foundation for a good life.

Right now, too many Victorians are missing out.

At the last Census, more than 30,000 Victorians were without a home – forced to ‘couch surf’ at someone else’s house, get a bed for the night at a dodgy motel, sleep in a car or tent or on the street, or try and secure a place in temporary crisis accommodation. Extraordinarily, 13,715 of those who sought homelessness assistance in 2023/24 were people with jobs.

Others have a roof over their head but are making major sacrifices to hold onto their home. Skipping meals, not turning on the heater, going without vital medicines to pay the rent. Victoria has more people in housing stress – paying more than 30 per cent of their income on housing – than any other Australian state or territory.

And some are keeping quiet about breaches of their housing rights for fear of being evicted, living in unsafe situations to avoid homelessness.

Put plainly, Victoria – like the rest of Australia – has a housing crisis.

On a positive note, political leaders at a state and Commonwealth level have recognised there’s a problem and made a series of flagship policy commitments and investments to tackle supply and affordability.

In Victoria, the signature piece is the State Government’s 10-year Housing Statement. This statement, released in September 2023, comprises five focus areas: immediate planning system reform, strategies to unlock supply in established suburbs and towns, more protections for renters, more social housing, and a new long-term (25 year) plan to guide housing growth (Plan for Victoria).

This paper marks the two year anniversary of the Housing Statement. It takes stock of the current challenges in our housing system, and considers what elements of the government’s strategy could be refined to deliver even greater benefits for Victorians who have least power and opportunity in our housing system, particularly those on low and very-low incomes, those who are victim survivors of family violence and people who are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.

Signatories to the paper are:

• Victorian Council of Social Service
• Aboriginal Housing Victoria
• Council to Homeless Persons
• Justice Connect
• Safe and Equal
• Tenants Victoria
• Victorian Public Tenants Association

Together, we urge the Victorian Government to up the ante in six priority areas.